India Microfinance

Indian Online Tutorial market to touch Rs 3,500 crore by 2015

E-tutorial market in India is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 40 per cent and is likely to cross Rs 3,500 crore mark by 2015 from the current level of Rs 1,200 crore says ASSOCHAM.

With greater internet penetration and availability of top-notch broadband services slowly but steadily the online tuition market in India is getting popular among students as there is a huge price difference between private tuitions at various coaching centres and online tutoring and this is a significant reason as to why more and more school, college going students are now getting enrolled for online classes providing them practical insights and individual attention in the comforts of their home at a time convenient to them, according to an ASSOCHAM study on ‘E-tutorial market-parallel education industry’.

Indian Online Tutorial Market

“E-tutorials is a niche sector that provides limitless world of knowledge as there are various online learning programs that compliment every student’s unique learning needs,” said Mr D.S. Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM.

Besides, a large number of teachers and even senior students with expertise in a particular subject are going online to teach children in view of the growing demand for online tutorials across the globe and rake in quick money especially during the US academic year starting in September-October, points out the study.

E-tutoring does not require any significant investments and simply requires a basic software and hardware set up to support multimedia and internet connection to facilitate interactive study sessions via e-mails and engaging in live discussions and video conferencing.

The online tutorial market in India is still at a nascent stage as it is mainly confined to the urban centres while the industry will get the real push from the semi-urban and the rural areas which are still jostling with dearth of technological advancement, said ASSOCHAM.

There are plenty of institutes in metro cities offering online learning programs for core subjects like maths, physics, chemistry, biology, english, economics and accountancy through an excellent team of professional, experienced and highly qualified tutors.

Online Tutoring in India

“It is a multi-faceted utility that facilitates students’ interaction with their tutors seamlessly and in real time through voice calls, live chat, emails and discussion boards making the whole learning process interesting and enjoyable,” said Mr Rawat.

ASSOCHAM had interacted with about 800 parents in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune between June and August to ascertain the amount of money spent by them on coaching classes for their wards preparing for class XII exams, engineering, medical entrance tests, chartered accountancy and other such courses at private tuition centres.

About 40 per cent of parents across these cities said that their tuition bills run into Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh annually and said that even though, affordability is a challenge but they don’t wish to take any chances considering that competition in schools, colleges and professionally is getting tougher by the day.

Online Tutorials Penetration in India

Nearly 55 per cent of the respondents were aware of the online tutorials and most of these people said that conventional tuition centres remain their first choice while rest of them said that online tutorials is a better way of learning unlike the coaching centres which are nothing but extended classrooms, highlighted the ASSOCHAM survey.

About 30 per cent of respondents were working couples and majority of them said that since they hardly get time to teach their kids they had enrolled their kids for private tuition at primary level itself.

Most of those who were unfamiliar with e-tutoring said that it is a good concept considering its easy accessibility, flexibility of time, comparatively low price and convenience to attend classes from the confines of their homes.